Charles H. Zeanah Jr.

Charles H. Zeanah, Jr., MD, is Mary Peters Sellars Polchow Chair of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, and Vice Chair for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Tulane University School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. Dr. Zeanah is a Board Member of ZERO TO THREE.

Charles H. Zeanah Jr.

Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Tulane University School of Medicine

Contributions to the Field

Dr. Zeanah is widely recognized for his leadership in the field of infant mental health. He has had a focus on early childhood psychopathology and the factors important in helping children recover from serious adversity. He has advocated for a more developmentally informed approach to foster care for young children, asserting that foster care in early childhood should be considered a different intervention than foster care for older children and adolescents.

Affiliations

Board Member, ZERO TO THREE

Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association

Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

World Association for Infant Mental Health

Society for Research in Child Development

Association of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines

Current Research

Dr. Zeanah is exploring models of intervention for maltreated young children both in the United States and in other countries. This research has included explorations of mechanisms of risk and protective factors impacting developmental outcomes.

Recent Honor/Awards/Recognition/Books Published

Dr. Zeanah is the recipient of many awards, including most recentLY: the 2015 Agnes Purcell McGavin Award for Prevention from the American Psychiatric Association, the 2013 Maureen Evans Award for Outstanding Services to Children (with Charles Nelson and Nathan Fox) from the Joint Council on International Children’s Services, and the 2010 Serge Lebovici Award from the World Association for Infant Mental Health. Dr. Zeanah was Fellow in Residence, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, Bellagio, Italy in 2011. Dr. Zeanah has published many journal articles and book chapters. He is particularly well known for the Handbook of Infant Mental Health and has served as presenter for invited addresses worldwide.